A plan to thin the herd of deer in Cayuga Heights has stirred clashing opinions at every juncture and the final vote to move forward with the plan was no different. Our Tamara Lindstrom tells us why some community members say village officials aren't playing fair.

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CAYUGA HEIGHTS, N.Y. -- It's an inflammatory issue that's polarized a community.

"In some ways, you can't bring people back together if you think it is immoral or unethical to kill the deer," said Cayuga Heights Mayor Kate Supron.

"I think elected officials who try to pass policies that rip apart the fabric of the community aren't very good at their job," said James LaVeck, founder of CayugaDeer.org.

But after years of plans, studies, protests and debate, trustees of the Village of Cayuga Heights voted unanimously to implement deer control: to sterilize a core group of does, then kill the rest of the herd.

"So it's the culmination of a lot of effort," Supron said.

Supporters say there are too many deer who cause serious trouble in the tiny village. Opponents question the estimated number of deer and say they don't want the animals slaughtered. But the latest clash is over the unpublicized final vote.

"The only reason that I knew that the final killing plan had been approved is that I happened to be attending that meeting," LaVeck said.

The mayor denies accusations that the vote was intentionally hidden from the public. She pointed out that there was no public comment period at that meeting and therefore the public really didn't need to be there.

"No, I don't think that it really needed to be publicly stated that this vote is going to be taken at this time," Supron said.

"It was a great show of disrespect because so many people have shown up to participate in the process. And if they had announced it, the meeting would have been packed," LaVeck said.

Meetings and public hearings have been packed for months.

While dissenters say village officials ignored their pleas to find an alternative plan, the mayor noted that in recent elections, no one ran against the sitting village trustees who all backed the plan.

"No one else in the community petitioned to get themselves on the ballot," Supron said.

"When three people did run a couple of years ago with some different ideas, they were treated so poorly and so nastily during the campaign that no one wants to run," LaVeck said.

Supron says she hopes respect for the process will bring people together. Opponents say they'll continue to fight.

A public hearing will be held Monday night on current fence ordinances in the village, which some say is an alternative to the culling plan. For more on the issue, visit www.cayuga-heights.ny.us and www.cayugadeer.org.